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GEORGE TOWN: It remains to be seen whether the new Penang Canal ferries will continue to be for vehicles and passengers or for people only, Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said today.
What has been confirmed is that the 30 million ringgit allocated by the previous federal government in December for the purchase of new ferries has been approved by the current administration, he added.
Terminals on both the mainland and the island will be modified to accommodate the new vessels, Chow said in his office in Komtar, detailing last week’s meeting with Transport Minister Wee Ka Siong.
The meeting came about in the wake of the recent interruption of ferry services. The last two ferries in service had to be repaired and only one of the six is currently operating.
The meeting also discussed a scheduled suspension of service for repairs to be made, but implementation has now been postponed.
Chow and a delegation from the Penang government visited Wee and his deputy, Hasbi Habibollah, and officials from the transport ministry in Kuala Lumpur last Thursday.
On whether the new ferries would be similar to the current vehicle-pedestrian mix or a pedestrian-only catamaran, Chow said this was still being studied.
In his opinion, the ideal would be to keep the current type of ferry. Currently, vehicles are loaded on the lower deck and passengers occupy the upper deck.
Last week, Wee announced that Penang would receive a new fleet of ferries to replace existing ones that are close to 50 years old and have now become too expensive to repair.
